A Different Sabbath
by rebeccathehistorian
Summary: Gilbert comes home from a long week of teaching and experiences a Sabbath unlike any he's ever been to. Years later, he's invited to one again and this time, he brings Anne along so she can experience it for herself. A two-shot.
1. Part 1

**Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support in this - especially Alinyaalethia.**

 **So instead of playing "Name the '80s movie," we're going to be playing "Guess the Yiddish word." Alinyaalethia and kslchen, you guys already have a head start in this. :) Bonus points to you for every word you figure out. Hint: Some of the translations are in the text. There's also a glossary at the bottom of the page.**

 **So in my mixture of Hebrew and Yiddish (respectively): _Shabbat Shalom v'/un hob a gut shabbes_. I hope you all enjoy this!**

 **\- rebeccathehistorian**

 **Disclaimer: Gilbert and Anne are L. M. Montgomery's and Mr. and Mrs. Roth are Katherine-with-a-k's. (The Roth's are mentioned in _More Windy Willows Love Letters_ , chapter 3.) I don't own any of them. I only own the Roth kids.**

* * *

 _28 – 29 Tishrei, 5642 / 21 October, 1881_

Gilbert leaned back against the wall with a sigh – with what seemed like the tenth time in the last two hours – as his schoolbag hit against the side of the building. His mind whirled with the accusations and the lengthy … _discussion_ … he had just had with the school board. _Wasn't the Old Testament enough? And they need to give the Roth family time. They are learning. Not everyone needs to be Christian._ He shook his head. He wasn't the one who needed to convince himself. He was trying to convince the school board. He pushed himself off the wall. For one, there was an ever so slight nip in the air. Fall was here; winter was coming. Secondly, he had told his parents when he went home last weekend that he had a school board meeting that next Friday afternoon so he wouldn't be home until that Saturday. But it would be nice to try to surprise Ma and Pa and get home unexpectedly on a Friday night, like he usually did. He looked up at the sky. The shadows were lengthening with every passing moment and while the sun wasn't setting yet, it would do so soon. If he wanted to get to Avonlea before nightfall, he would have to get his things together quickly. He hadn't managed to pack his things the night before – like he usually did, so he could leave for Avonlea almost as soon as school was out and be able to be with Anne – due to spending the evening grading papers, getting some biology coursework done, and revising his latest paper for AVIS. Perhaps in the back of his practical mind, he knew that it was useless to try to pack the night before when he figured he wouldn't be able to make it home the next day…. He sighed again. He figured he had a little bit more than an hour or an hour-and-a-half of sunlight left … and most of that time would need to be reserved for the drive home. He needed to get going.

He turned around, opened the door, and walked into the Roth family home. The warmth inside enveloped him like a blanket. He could smell a mixture of freshly baked bread, fish, something nice and sweet smelling, and sharp odor of some kind of spice. As he put his bag down in the entryway and took off his coat and put it on the coatrack, he heard a pair of feet round the corner. "Ah, Gilbert, _bistu aheim_ ," Hannah Roth said with a smile as she wiped her hands on her apron as he walked towards her. "You go to Avonlea?" she asked him as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Uh …" He looked out the window. It was already slightly darker than it was a few moments ago. Did he have enough time now? Would he be able to make it?

" _Mameh!_ ," Rachel yelled while she pointed to the window. _"Gib a kuk!"_

"Ah!" She directed her gaze back at Gilbert. " _Meyle,_ " she said waving a hand at him. " _Zits._ _Blaybn do._ Sit. You no go to Avonlea."

"Can I – " Gilbert asked, starting to rise from the chair he was sitting in.

" _Nayn, nayn._ " Hannah bustled around giving directions. He couldn't understand what she was saying but he at least got the names – Ruchele, Yankele, Sorele. He could see the children bustling around, Rachel coming to the table to put on another plate but rushing back in a couple of trips to first put on the utensils and then another cup – a nicer one, he noticed. Meanwhile, he could see Hannah rushed over to the other doorway that was covered by a curtain. "Avremel!" Gilbert couldn't understand what she said but it sounded urgent. Presently, Gilbert heard the door lock in the store before Abraham came through the curtain and into the kitchen. As Abraham quickly walked by, he said with a smile, "Hello, Gilbert." He walked away before Gilbert could have a chance to respond. Gilbert's brow furrowed. _Why was everyone rushing around? It was only a Friday night. The Sabbath wasn't until Sunday anyway._ A minute or two later, there were heavy footfalls on the stairs and Abraham came down wearing a nice wrap and a flat black cap with no bill covering his head. Gilbert looked down for a few moments and swallowed touching his newsboy cap self-consciously. _Should he have worn one of those too?_

Abraham came back into the room and nodded at his wife. As the family gathered around the table, Abraham crooked his finger to Gilbert, indicating that Gilbert should join them. As he stood behind Abraham (who was holding Sammy) and Jacob (whom he noticed with relief, was wearing a newsboy cap just like he was), he saw that Rachel was standing in between Jacob and Hannah – she was tall enough that her head cleared the table – and that Sarah was standing to the left of Hannah, holding onto the table and doing her best to stand on her tiptoes to peer up and over the table to see what was happening. Hannah pinned a piece of lace to her wig. As Gilbert looked out the window, he could see the sun was clearly setting. The strike of a match brought him back to the present. Hannah lit the two white candles in the silver candlesticks and waved her hands, palms up and cupped, over the flames three times in a circle bringing her hands from the outer ends to the center, which, at the end of the third time, she brought her hands to cover her eyes. She then said, _"Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbes."_ At the end of the blessing – which is what it must've been – everyone started hugging and wishing each other _"Gut Shabbes!"_ Abraham turned to him and gave him the same greeting.

What was he supposed to say in response? "Uh … _goot shaybess_?" Abraham smiled at him and Gilbert's shoulders relaxed. He guessed he had said the right thing. So they were going to eat now, right?

Evidently not. Abraham started singing and the rest of the family joined in. After what he thought were a couple of stanzas, he realized that it sounded like most of the words were the same except the beginning kept changing. As the song went on, he could detect a rhythmic rise and low in the music … even if he didn't know what they were saying at all. But it sounded like a nice song. It would just be nicer if he knew what in the world they were saying.

At the end of the song, Gilbert saw that both Abraham and Hannah glanced at him for a moment before Abraham gave Hannah a look indicating that he was communicating with his wife through their eyes alone. After a moment of silence, Abraham told him, "Mothers and fathers bless the children now. You too."

Gilbert stared at him eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You want to bless me? But – but I'm not your son."

"No. But you live with us, no?"

"Yes …"

" _Nu?_ So?"

"I … I guess …" Abraham placed a hand on Gilbert's head as he continued to hold Sammy with his other arm. Gilbert thought it was strange … but nice? Here he was, getting blessed by people whom he had only known for about a month-and-a-half whom – he hazarded a guess – were only about ten years older than he was … and yet…. It was nice. He was getting blessed not because he had done anything good, but just for being here, for living in this house. And what made him heart-glad more than anything is that he knew, even without them actually saying it, that by blessing him, Abraham and Hannah were including him as part of the family. To them, he was their son. He smiled, now knowing that while yes, he did have parents – even though he only saw them on the weekends – he also had parents in White Sands during the week too. Even if they seemed to him in a sense, more like a brother and sister to him because of the ten or so year difference, but also they were somewhat like his parents because they did their best to look after him. They invoked the names of Efrayim and M'nashe – _Where had he heard those names before? … Oh right, Ephraim and Mannaseh. Joseph's sons!_ – before they continued on, next blessing the girls and saying something with the names Sar-rah, Rifka, Rahel, and Leah. He mulled it over his mind for a moment. _So if Leah was Leah, Jacob's wife, then would Sar-rah be Sarah, Abraham's wife, Rahel perhaps be Rachel? Jacob's other wife? … But then who was Rifka?_ He shook his head for a moment before resolving to figure it out later. Then, it seemed like, they blessed all of them together. Afterwards, Abraham and Hannah quietly shooed them to their seats. Gilbert sat down for a moment. Looking around, he realized with embarrassment that one, everyone was looking at him, and two, everyone was still standing.

"Sorry," he muttered with a blush as he stood up and pushed his chair in. Then Abraham turned to Hannah and started to say something. As he went on, Hannah blush deepened and she ducked her head and eyes for a moment before she looked up at her husband again. As Abraham continued on, Gilbert stood there. _This blessing – or whatever it is – is long. When are we going to eat?_ Gilbert thought. At the end of the blessing, Gilbert gave an internal sigh of relief. _So they were going to do grace next, right?_

Abraham picked up his cup and held it out in front of him. Seeing that the rest of the family did the same, Gilbert picked his up too. As Abraham started to recite something, Gilbert brought his cup up to his nose and gave a sniff. The pungent smell of wine met his nose. He smiled thinking of what Mrs. Lynde would say about the intemperance of this family and the fact that they were drinking wine. After a few moments, Abraham said something like what sounded like the end of a prayer. Gilbert started to raise his cup to his lips but partway there, Abraham continued on. Thankfully, not too much later, the prayer, or blessing, or whatever it was, was evidently done as Abraham took a sip of the wine. The family said "Amen" and took sips from their own cups as did Gilbert. Abraham then went over to the pump taking a cup and pouring water over each hand three times. As he dried them, Gilbert could see his mouth muttering something under his breath. _Was that another prayer? Geez! How many prayers and blessings did they have?!_ Gilbert turned to look at the kids who were still standing around the table. He was quietly amazed that the whole family was quiet and respectful. He knew that at their age he would've been the exact opposite. When Abraham came back to the table, Gilbert noticed that they were pulling a white cloth off of something and underneath lay two braided loaves of bread on a breadboard. Finally. They were going to eat. He was starting to get hungry. _But why had the bread been covered?_

"Ab – " Abraham placed a finger over his mouth and shook his head. Gilbert fell silent though he was slightly confused as to why he couldn't talk. Abraham grabbed the two loaves, one in each hand, and held them together the bottom parts of each touching each other. _"Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz."_ Abraham placed both of them on the table and then started pulling chunks of bread from one of them into nice-sized pieces before sprinkling … Was it salt or sugar? He couldn't tell yet … on them, before taking one, putting the rest on a plate and passing it down the table. When it got to him, he took a piece and bit into it. Yes, it was definitely salt. But underneath all that, he could taste a soft, eggy bread that was probably one of the best breads he had ever tasted … besides his mother's of course. He could almost feel it melt into his mouth. He could imagine putting anything on this and that combination would infinitely taste better than the regular bread he usually had … butter, jam, lard.

The talking resumed as chairs scraped against wooden floorboards and everyone sat down. As the food was passed around and Abraham and Hannah – especially Hannah, Gilbert noted with amusement – piled the children's plates high with food, Abraham turned to him for a moment, a curious look in his eyes. "Gilbert, what was it that you wanted to say earlier?"

"Huh?" Gilbert's forehead furrowed in confusion. _What was it that he wanted to ask earlier?_ He blinked a few times and shifted his eyes back and forth while he cocked his head for a moment trying to remember. He gave a slight shrug and shook his head. "I don't remember. Sorry."

"It's all right. If you remember later, you can ask."

"Thanks."

Gilbert tucked in happily. There was chicken soup with carrots, chicken, some kind of bread pudding, and some kind of beige patty with flecks of what looked like onion, carrots, and potato. A small bowl of a beige something – a spice from the smell of it – came around to him. His eyebrows furrowed again in confusion.

" _Far_ _di gefilte fish,_ Gilbert," Hannah explained. Gilbert looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Uh, uh," she waved her hand in circles trying to figure out how to say it in English.

"For the stuffed fish," Abraham provided helpfully.

" _Yo. A sheynem dank_ ," Hannah said with relief.

Ah. So that had to be that beige patty then. Gilbert took a generous helping of the spice and put on his fish before passing the spice bowl on. He cut a piece of fish with the spice on it and as he closed his lips over the piece of food he heard –

"Gilbert, don't – "

As he looked up at Abraham, he started chewing, and an explosion of spice burnt his whole mouth. _What kind of spice is this?!_ As he threw his face forward, his mouth opened trying to find a reprieve. He could feel his cheeks flaming with the heat. He flapped a hand in front of his mouth trying to cool it down. As he continued to chew – he was determined to finish this bite whatever it took – he started coughing, his body repelling of taking in whatever this … this _spice_ … was. Now not just his mouth was hot but also the inside of his nose hurt and eyes had started watering. A hardened hand slapped him on the back until he was able to calm down.

He held a hand up in surrender. "I'm alright. I'm alright. Thanks," he said to Abraham.

Abraham looked at him dubiously for a moment before accepting Gilbert's statement. "We tried to tell you," Abraham replied as walked back to his seat, "not to put so much on. It's _chrain_ … uh, horseradish."

So that's what that little bugger was. And then he promptly scraped off all the horseradish off of his fish.

As dinner continued, the talk shifted first to relaying the events of the day and then to the Torah portion for the week. As he learned from the table discussion, that week's Torah portion was Beresheesh – whatever that was – and it was going to focus on creation and Adam and Eve. At one point during dinner, Hannah asked him, "Gilbert, you like teaching?"

"Yes. I'm learning a lot. But I'm not sure if it's something I want to do forever."

"What would you like to do?" Abraham asked in response.

Gilbert paused for a moment in thought. "I … I don't know," he said slowly. "I know that I want to help people."

Abraham nodded. "There's time. When you know, tell us," he said with a smile. Gilbert gave a quick nod.

After dinner was over, dessert was eaten, and Hannah had piled the plates in the sink and had strangely _left them there_ and had not washed them up like she did every other night, Hannah gave Gilbert a lamp and told him not to turn it out. Gilbert acquiesced but he was confused as to why. It's not like they told him to do this any other night he was with them. He mentally shook his head. While it was something he wondered about, he knew with his limited Yiddish and Hannah's limited English, there was no way Hannah would be able to explain it to him. And frankly, he was starting to get too tired to care. Between the long week at school and the late hour, all he wanted to do was get ready for bed.

Following the Roths upstairs, after bidding them good night amid the sounds of closing doors, Gilbert opened his door up. As he started to close his bedroom door, he could hear Hannah singing quietly with the noise of a rocking chair through her bedroom door:

 _"In dem beis ha'mikdash …_ "

As Gilbert snuggled under the blanket he mused that he hadn't gone to sleep with the light on since he was a child. Which led his brain to mull over the question he had been having in the back of his brain all evening: _Who was Rifka?_ He had determined that Rahel and Leah had to be Jacob's wives and Sar-rah must be Sarah who was Abraham's wife … Hold on a moment. If at least three out of four names could be from ancient times in the Old Testament, was there a possibility that the fourth name – _Rifka_ – was the same? He wracked his brain for a few moments trying to think who it could be. It couldn't be anyone in the New Testament – the Roth's didn't believe in it – and beyond Genesis, he couldn't think of any woman whose name started with an R. Could it be Rebecca, Isaac's wife? He sighed. Moody would be much better at this. It hit him then. Isaac's wife, Rebecca, seemed to be the only logical explanation. If it was taking the women from Genesis – as the other three were, it seemed to be the only logical explanation. That had to be the answer. Eh. He could check with Moody tomorrow. Maybe between the two of them they could figure this puzzle out.

* * *

The morning light streamed into the bedroom casting patterns on the floor. He could hear birds chirping, a new day was starting, and … were the Roths singing downstairs? He stilled for a moment, listening.

 _Ashrei yosh'vei veytecha od yehalelucha selah_

 _Ashrei ha'am she'cacha lo, ashrei ha'am sheh'adonai elohav_

Huh.

After getting himself and his trunk ready, Gil walked downstairs to find through the open doors of the parlor, all of the Roth's were praying. He wanted to eat breakfast before he traveled home but it didn't seem right to disturb them. As he stood there, he saw Hannah glanced at him for a moment before she knelt down to speak with Rachel who was standing next to her. With the slam of a book being shut, Rachel flew to Gilbert's side pulling him along the hallway to the kitchen.

"Mama said that your breakfast is in the kitchen. She made it already. It's on a plate." He dutifully found the plate on the table with a glass of water next to it. Seeing that Hannah had already made him breakfast – a chicken liver sandwich on the egg bread, possibly from last night? – he shooed Rachel back to her mother so for once he could eat breakfast in peace.

A while later, Gilbert bid the Roth's a good day, hitched up the horse, and drove home to Avonlea.

A week later he gave Anne his answer to Abraham's question at dinner: "What would you like to do in the future?"

* * *

Glossary (in order of appearance):

 _Bistu aheim_ (Yiddish) = You're home

 _Mameh_ (Yiddish) = Mother

 _Gib a kuk!_ (Yiddish) = Literally: Give a look; Generally: Look!

 _Meyle_ (Yiddish) = Never mind

 _Zits_ (Yiddish) = Sit

 _Blaybn do_ (Yiddish) = Stay here

 _Nayn_ (Yiddish) = No

 _Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbes._ (Hebrew (Ashkenazic pronunciation)) = Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the Sabbath candles.

 _Gut Shabbes!_ (Yiddish) = Good Sabbath!

 _Nu?_ (Yiddish) = So? Well?

 _Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz._ (Hebrew) = Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. (Among Jews, this blessing is known as the Hamotzei.)

 _Far di gefilte fish_ (Yiddish) = For the gefilte fish

 _Gefilte fish_ (Yiddish) = Stuffed fish – no literally. In the olden days, you'd buy a live pike or carp and depending on when you bought it (anywhere between a Thursday (the day before the start of the Sabbath) to around a week before) you'd keep in the bathtub for the duration of that time (anywhere between a day and a week). (If you bought it on a Friday, then you wouldn't do this.) When you were ready, you'd kill it, slice it open, take out the organs, dice up the meat, and then put the fish meat in a bowl and mix it with onions, carrots, parsnips, eggs, matzah meal, salt, and sugar. Then you would stuff the dead fish with this mixture, sew the dead fish up, cook it, and then serve it. Nowadays, at least where I live, you can buy them in the grocery store (just the fish mixture – it's not stuffed in the actual fish) and you don't even need to cook them; the brand I know of is Manischewitz Gefilte Fish.

 _Yo_ (Yiddish) = Yes

 _A sheynem dank_ (Yiddish) = Thank you very much

 _Chrain_ (Yiddish) = Horseradish

 _In dem beis ha'mikdash_ (Yiddish) = In the synagogue. This is the first line of the Yiddish song, "Rozinkes mit Mandlen" (literally translated as "Raisins with Almonds", generally translated as "Raisins and Almonds") which was a song Abraham Goldfaden (aka the "Father of Yiddish Theater) wrote in 1880 for his Yiddish operetta _Shulamis_.

 _Ashrei yosh'vei …_ (Hebrew) = These are the first two lines of the _Ashrei_ prayer and are from Psalm 84:5 and 144:15 respectively. The first two lines translate to:

 _Happy are they that dwell in Thy house, they are ever praising Thee._

 _Happy is the people that is in such case. Yea, happy is the people whose God is the Lord._


	2. Part 2

**Thank you everyone for your encouragement, reading, and wonderful reviews.**

 **Once again, we're going to be playing "Guess the Yiddish word." Like last time, bonus points to you if you get it but yes, some of the words are explained in story while all of them are explained at the bottom of the chapter in the glossary. Also, I sort-of put a pun in this chapter; double bonus points if you get it.**

 **For the last few hours that is left of Shabbat (at least in my area of the world): _Shabbat shalom! Hob a gut shabbes!_**

 **Enjoy!**

 **\- rebeccathehistorian**

* * *

 _22 – 23 Av, 5650 / 8 August, 1890_

Anne tucked an auburn curl behind her ear and studied her reflection in the hallway mirror. _Did she look alright?_ She sighed. It wasn't as if she hadn't met them before. She had. Two years ago now. But that had been an impromptu visit when she went looking for Gilbert in White Sands. She had stopped off at the Roth home to see if he was there but as soon as Mrs. Roth saw her on her doorstep – and knew exactly who she was – Mrs. Roth had practically hauled her across her doorstep, sat her down, and plied her with yummy rugelach. Mr. Roth had later told her that she could find Gil in the caves and that he would take his students there sometimes when he was teaching.

She brought her thoughts back to the present. But that was then and this was now. Now, she was going to be officially meeting them and their children and she wanted to look her best. She was Gilbert's fiancé after all and these people were important to him even if he only stayed with them for a couple of years. She smoothed down her light green skirt that she knew Gil liked. She supposed this would have to do. Gil did say, after all, to wear her Sunday best.

"Anne," Davy asked as he came up beside her, "why are you wearing your Sunday best on a Friday?"

"I'm going somewhere with Gilbert tonight. He asked me to do so."

"Why? I want to know."

"I don't know, Davy. Let me find out and we'll see."

Davy gave a shrug. As he started to walk towards the kitchen, she could see him shake his head and mutter " _Weird._ " She held in a laugh.

"Anne," Marilla called from the kitchen, knitting while sitting at the set table and waiting for Davy to finish up the last of his chores before dinner. "When is Gilbert supposed to get here?"

"He said he would pick me up at 6:30. Something about wanting to get there with enough time to spare before it becomes sunset?"

"Who are you visiting anyway?" Rachel Lynde asked as she industriously sat there at the dinner table hemming napkins.

"The Roth family, Mrs. Lynde. They're in White Sands. Gilbert boarded with them while he was teaching."

"Roth … That's not a Christian name, that's what. I tell you, Marilla, that family must be perfect heathens. How dare you let Anne go gallivanting off to such a place?"

"Oh come now, Rachel, there's no harm. As Anne said, Gilbert boarded with them for two years. Do you really think that Gilbert Blythe would board with a family of perfect heathens? Or that if his mother heard, she would allow him to?"

Rachel gave an indignant "Hmph" in response.

Presently, there was a knock and Anne flew to the door from her spot in the kitchen.

"Hi."

"Hi." Gilbert gave her a kiss as a continued way of his greeting. Anne smiled serenely at him before she remembered what she was supposed to do. She stepped aside and as he came through the door, Gilbert took off his bowler hat. Anne couldn't take her eyes off him. He was wearing what he'd wear every Sunday but it was … _strange_ … seeing him wear his Sunday suit on a Friday night. Davy was right. She smiled and made a mental note to tell him that later. "You ready to go?" Gilbert asked her.

"Mm-hm. Let me just get something." Gilbert followed her into the kitchen. She grabbed the handle of the small wicker basket full of plum puffs she had made earlier that day from the corner of the table where they had been sitting. Gilbert's hand closed over hers in a warm embrace stopping her from taking the basket off the table.

"Anne, you can't take these."

Anne's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Well, they're not - " Gilbert stopped mid-sentence, rubbing the back of his neck, and looked out of the corner of his eye. Yep, Mrs. Lynde was sitting at the other end of the set table. He looked back at Anne, her eyebrows still furrowed. "They're not … well, made in a religious enough environment," he said, knowing that Avonlea's biggest gossip was sitting just three feet away from where they were standing. There was no need to make it even worse.

"Religious enough, my foot. What are we suppose to do? Pray over them?"

Gilbert ignored her comment. "I'll explain it on the ride over there. Believe me, there'll be _lots_ of food to go around."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Keep them here, Anne," Marilla said. "Lord knows Davy will probably be hungry in a few hours and he could have one of them. And even if we do get to them tonight, we'll still have more for tomorrow."

Gilbert glanced at his pocket watch. "Oh!" he exclaimed before glancing a look at the sky outside the window. "We definitely need to go."

"Anne, wear your blue sweater. There's a slight chill in the air. Have fun you two."

"Don't forget to mind your manners. You're representing Avonlea after all."

Anne inwardly rolled her eyes. "Of course we are, Mrs. Lynde." Anne gave her a quick peck on the cheek, her blue sweater now on before turning to do the same to Marilla. "Bye Marilla. Have fun with the twins."

"I might be bringing Anne back home late tonight. You don't need to wait up for us."

"Does your mother know that?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lynde." Anne noticed the slight exasperation in his voice. "I've already told my mother the same thing."

Presently, the kitchen door swung open, revealing Davy and the silent announcement that it was dinner time. "Oh, hi Gil." He turned to Anne then. "You're still here? I thought you would've left by now."

"I'm not going to leave without Gilbert, Davy."

"And I'll take that as our cue to leave." They gave their goodbyes to everybody and went out the door to the waiting buggy.

Once they had climbed into the buggy and were driving down the road to White Sands, Anne turned to Gilbert and asked, "What was it that you didn't want to explain back there?"

Gilbert looked confused for a moment before he remembered. "Oh, that. The Roth's follow Jewish dietary restrictions – it's called _kashrut_ – and since we don't follow them, they can't eat anything we make in our kitchens."

"Oh. That makes sense, I suppose."

"By the way, I have a surprise for you."

"Oh?" Anne turned towards him, eyes wide, and a grin creeping up on her face. "What is it?"

"Uh-huh. I'm not telling you," he smirked. "I want to see your reaction when it happens."

"Please?" Anne pouted pushing her bottom lip out. She knew she looked like Davy but she didn't care.

"Nope." Gilbert's smirky grin grew even wider.

"Hmph," Anne pouted. Soon they continued animatedly talking as they drove on to White Sands as at times, their laughter covered the countryside.

* * *

About an hour later, Gilbert and Anne found themselves on the doorstep to the Roth home. They had parked the buggy in the small barn nearby (with Gilbert saying with relief that they had arrived in plenty enough time) and a young man slightly older than Davy – whom Gilbert had introduced to Anne as Jacob Roth – had insisted over Gilbert's objections ("You're our guest!" Jacob Roth had said. "Don't you need to get ready?" Gilbert had asked.) to brush the horse down. While waiting on the doorstep, Anne saw a small rectangle with a symbol on it on the right doorpost above her head. She reached up to straighten it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gil's face. "Stop smirking at me, Gilbert Blythe!"

"I didn't say anything, Anne. Besides, you're not going to be able to straighten it. It's nailed there. Don't worry, I already tried years ago. It's suppose to be like that."

Just then, they saw a small face peep out from behind a curtain for a moment and the cry of _"Zey zaynen do!"_ came from within the house. They could hear people rushing to the door and after a moment, it swung open. Four children stood there ranging from what looked like about fourteen to eight, with an older woman and man – clearly their parents – coming up to the door just a few steps behind them.

"Come in, come in," Mrs. Roth called with a thick accent, a broad smile, and a gesture of her hand as she maneuvered around a couple of her children. As Anne walked through the front door, Gil followed right behind her, reaching up to touch his fingertips on the _mezuzah_ before kissing his fingers as he crossed the threshold. "It's nice to see you again, Anne." Mrs. Roth gave her a warm hug before pulling her back to arm's length. "Welcome back."

"Thank you for having us."

Mrs. Roth waved it away. "It's no problem. Not at all. We love having guests over for _Shabbes_." In the midst of all this, Mr. Roth and the children had greeted Gilbert enthusiastically. Now, having been greeted by Mrs. Roth and a friendly Mr. Roth themselves, Anne turned to face Gilbert with a smile. She wanted to see how he was treated.

"Gilbert!" she cried and gave him a huge hug with which he responded to with as much voracity. Anne grinned. She had only seen him give as big and as fierce of a hug as was giving Mrs. Roth right now as he did with his mother … and with her. He gave Mrs. Roth a peck on the cheek before he straightened up. " _Gut shabbes!_ " Mrs. Roth exclaimed.

 _"Gut shabbes, gut yor!"_ Gilbert replied. Anne stared at him. _Was he speaking German?_

Gilbert could feel Anne staring at him. He didn't even need to see it to feel it. _You think this is the surprise?_ Gilbert thought. _Just you wait, Anne Shirley._

"Oh!" Mrs. Roth exclaimed clasping her hands together to her chest. "My son is a doctor!"

"Um," Gilbert scratched the back of his neck as he, Anne, and the children followed her into the kitchen. "I have been for about a month-and-a-half now."

"This calls for a _simkhe_!"

"Hannah – " Gilbert said in an exasperated tone.

" _Sha,"_ she said, stopping in the middle of the hallway and pointing a finger at him. " _Nayn_. No buts. I already made your favorite dessert in honor of the occasion."

"You made apple cake?" His face brightened at the thought as they continued to walk on. Anne gave a snort of laughter. "You may laugh, Miss Shirley, but Hannah makes as good of an apple cake as Ma makes of apple pie." He settled himself against a set of drawers. "Oh!" He propelled himself into a more upright position. "I forgot to introduce you to some people." He laid a brotherly hand on the older of the two girls. "I know you've already met Jacob, so this is Rachel, this is Sarah," laying another hand on the younger of the two girls, "this lad is Sammy," clapping a hand on the middle boy's shoulder, "Is it Sammy or Sam? Alright, Sammy, and this little lad," Gilbert continued tussling the youngest boy's hair –

"I'm not little!"

Gilbert gave Anne a smirk and a teasing look over the youngest boy's head. "Alright, so this _not_ -so-little lad, is Benny."

"Gil, Gil," Benny tugged on his sleeve. "Can I sing you a song?"

"Benny, please don't – " one of his sisters started saying.

"– Sure," Gilbert interrupted.

" _Mir bagrisin –_ "

"Benny, _sha shtil!"_ one of his sisters exclaimed.

Benny turned to her and started singing at the top of his lungs. " _– KHOYCH UN KLOR – "_

Sammy had plugged his fingers in his ears. "La, la, lah, I can't hear you!"

" _Mameh_ ," they heard Rachel complain, "make Benny stop! He's been singing the same song all day and it's not even _Rosh Hashoneh_ yet. He's driving me _meshuge!"_

"Benny," Hannah called out in a warning tone. " _sha!_ Where's Yankl? Is he still out there combing the horse?"

"Do you want me to go get him?" Gilbert offered.

" _Nayn._ I can see him coming right now."

Presently, the front door swung open and slammed with a bang, and a young man's shout of "I'll be right there!" echoed through the house as he pounded up the stairs. Anne grinned. It reminded her of Davy.

"Anne," Mrs. Roth said, laying a hand over hers, "having a large family is wonderful. But getting together in time for the Sabbath, oh," she shook her head. "It's an absolute nightmare."

"I can imagine."

There was a commotion on the stairs and a set of running feet that stopped abruptly at the doorway to the kitchen. "Alright, I'm here," Jacob said, hands on knees trying to catch a breath.

Gilbert glanced out the window for a second. "Oh, I think you have a moment or two to catch your breath before you have to go off running again," he told Jacob with a smirk. Jacob just glared at him.

"Boys …" Hannah Roth told them in a slight warning tone. Gilbert had the presence to look slightly abashed … even at twenty-seven, Anne noted with amusement. Hannah looked outside the window for a moment. "Alright, everyone, let's get started. It's time. It's almost sundown."

"Mrs. Roth, what about that?" Anne asked pointing to a big pot on the stove that was still cooking. She could see that there was a lot of food on the table but wasn't Mrs. Roth forgetting something?

"Leave it there. That's _cholent_ , bean and beef stew, for lunch tomorrow. Let it simmer."

Anne shrugged in response. "Aren't you going to take off your hat?" Anne whispered to Gil as she sidled up next to him and they walked over to where the family was gathering around a pair of candles.

"No. I'm not taking it off until we get back to Green Gables." At Anne's confused look, he continued in a whisper, "Look around. Do you see anyone else bareheaded?"

Anne noticed he was right. While the girls were bareheaded, Hannah, Abraham, and the boys weren't. Well, that probably explained why Gil still had his hat on after all this time.

After the candles were lit, something was said, greetings were exchanged (of which Gilbert participated in that more than her), and a song was sung, Anne found herself on one side of the table with Gilbert holding her right hand and the whole family across the table from them.

Abraham gave them a smirk and crooked his finger at Gilbert indicating he should come over to their side. "Oh, right." Gilbert blushed momentarily. "You're next," he quietly told Anne with a grin before he kissed her cheek, released her hand, and walked around the table. Anne looked after him confused.

A few moments later – after Abraham and Hannah had blessed the boys – Abraham crooked his finger at Anne. "Me?" Anne squeaked, pointing to herself.

"Since you're marrying our son, then you're our daughter."

"Oh…. Alright then."

During the time that they were blessing the girls and then all of them together, a fleeting thought passed through her. She loved Matthew and Marilla with all her heart and the home, love, and safety they gave after her horrible childhood was (eventually) a balm to her soul. But what if she had been immediately loved and accepted as part of the family like the Roth's had done with her now?

Once the Roth's were done, and everyone had gone back to their seats – well, standing behind them at least – Abraham started saying something, clearly directed at Hannah. It was during this time that Gilbert took the opportunity to wrap his arm around his fiancée while she rested her head on his shoulder and he looked down at her with love shining in his eyes. At the end of the blessing, Gilbert leaned down to whisper in Anne's ear with a small smile. "A woman of valor."

Anne's eyes widened as she swiveled her head to look at him. "Gil," she breathed.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed her on the forehead. Somebody cleared their throat. An embarrassed blush covered both of their faces. "I think they're waiting for us," Gilbert continued.

With an indulgent look at them, Abraham raised his glass to which everyone followed suit as another blessing was said. Anne gave a couple of coughs as the wine slid down her throat. She wasn't expecting that. As Abraham walked towards the sink and presumably to wash his hands, Gilbert was calmly sipping at his wine, the goose. He gave her a smirk but his eyes hid a secretive smile. There was no way the two of them were going to tell Mrs. Lynde. Perhaps, however, his parents and Marilla wouldn't mind. In response to his smirk, Anne nudged his arm.

"Gil – ," Anne started. He put a finger over his mouth indicating to her to be quiet.

When Abraham got back though, Sarah started talking … sort-of.

"Mm! Mm-mm!" she said pointing at the table and looking directly at her mother.

"Mhm?" Hannah responded.

Sarah looked slightly exasperated as the second exchange was pretty much the same as before. At the third go-around:

"MM-MM!" Sarah said as she pointed at the table … and then was absolutely exasperated at her mother's blank stare. She cupped her right hand into a backwards C, turned it somewhat upside-down and made a shaking motion. " _Mm-mm_?" She pointed at the bread covered in a white cloth. "Mm!" Ah. Gilbert understood now. Sarah was trying to tell her mother that there was no salt on the table.

Hannah's face lit up in understanding. "Mm!" she said as she raised a finger in the air. She left the table and came back presently with a salt shaker in hand. With that now on the table, the family said the blessing, Abraham sprinkled salt on the bread, passed it around, and after everyone took a bite and started chewing, the murmurs of words and of contentment started spewing forth as the chairs scraped the wooden floor back and forth as people sat down. As the food was passed around, Gil grinned. He could see that all of them were dishes he had eaten while living at the Roth's; even after nine years of living in White Sands, some things still stayed the same: wine and challah of course, chicken soup with carrots, gefilte fish, horseradish, potato kugel, and chicken. And knowing Hannah, for dessert, rugelach as well as apple cake.

"Anne, what was it that you were trying to ask me earlier?"

"Well, I was wondering why the bread was covered."

" _Kinderlach_ , who wants to answer that?" Abraham asked with a grin.

"I will!" Sammy called out, his mouth full of challah. Seeing the glares from his older sisters and mother at his lack of decorum, he quickly finished his bite before continuing. "It's because we don't want the bread to get jealous that we bless the wine first."

Anne looked at him with slight surprise.

"It's a way to teach children to be considerate of other people's feelings," Abraham followed up.

"That's an important teaching tool," Anne mused.

"Would've done Anthony Pye some good," Gilbert replied as he took a piece of gefilte fish, passed it onto Anne, and told her what it was.

Anne snorted. "What about Davy when he was younger?"

"True," Gilbert said as he gave a snort of laughter. As Sarah passed the horseradish down, he came up with a brilliant idea. Of course, while he had gotten used to eating gefilte fish with horseradish over the years, he would have to forgo putting it on for the moment. Seeing that Sarah noticed he hadn't taken any, he winked at her and gave her a small smile. She'd find out soon enough. He passed the horseradish onto Anne. "Here, try some. It's for the fish." He pointed to what he was talking about on her plate. She looked at it warily for a moment and then at him. He gave her an encouraging nod. _Don't give the game away, Blythe._ She took a tiny bit and spread it all over the fish … too little to taste anything of it. "That's way too little. You won't taste anything," he said looking at her plate with the straightest face he could muster and doing his best (and succeeding!) in not looking at her. "Here," he continued as he grabbed the spoon and placed some more in a small area of the fish that was closest to her. "Try it like that," he suggested as he placed the spoon back in the small bowl. After a moment or two, he could feel Anne's wary eyes on him for a couple of moments before she went back to her food. _Keep it together, Blythe._ He could hear the clink of a fork against a plate as he tried to calmly take a piece of potato kugel. _Wait for it…_ He heard a gasp beside him. _There it is…_ He smiled. Almost immediately, he felt a bit bad for what he had just done to his almost-wife and promptly grabbed his water glass and placed it in front of Anne. With the piece of potato kugel secured on his plate, he turned to get a look at Anne; he wanted to make sure she was alright and that he hadn't hurt her _too_ much. Yes, her cheeks were red and she was gulping water by the mouthful but otherwise, she looked fine.

Presently, Anne put the water glass down and took a deep breath, trying to get her bearings.

"Are you alright?" Hannah asked in concern.

"I'm fine, thank you," Anne responded with a smile.

Anne took another deep breath before she turned her head to Gilbert, a beatific smile gracing her face. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"…Ye-es…"

"Gilbert _Blythe!_ " Anne exclaimed with a grin as she wacked him on the arm. _Hard._

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gilbert said as he put his hands up in surrender. "I didn't want to be the only one at this table who had eaten too much horseradish in one bite."

"Fine." Anne continued grinning at him. "But I'm going to throw you into the Lake of Shining Waters for that."

"Fair enough. But seriously," he continued, spooning a bit of horseradish finally onto his food, "if you take just a little bit of horseradish and put it on the fish – not as much as I put on your one bite – it's good. I promise."

After a couple of moments of silence with just the sounds of people eating, Jacob's voice broke in. "Gil, since you're a doctor now, can I ask you a medical question?"

"Sure," Gilbert answered as he speared a bite of food with his fork and put it in his mouth.

"I was reading the Talmud this afternoon and I was wondering if it's medically possible that Rabbi Akiva could die – "

"No."

"But _Tateh_ – "

" _No._ I'm not giving your younger brothers nightmares. Besides, Rabbi Akiva's death is not dinner table talk. If you want to ask Gil, ask him after dinner or write him a letter – _after_ shabbes." Jacob opened his mouth for a moment looking like he was about to argue before closing his mouth again.

Turning to Anne and Gilbert, Hannah asked, "How's the wedding planning going?" Clearly, she was trying to divert to a different topic.

"It's going well, I think," Gilbert answered as he looked at Anne (as Anne nodded in agreement) before looking back at Hannah. "Actually," Gilbert continued as his eyes shifted back and forth between Abraham and Hannah, "we discussed it on the ride over, and if it's possible for you to come, we want to invite you all to the wedding."

"When's the wedding?" Abraham asked.

Gilbert hesitated for a moment, glancing at Anne before turning his attention back to the Roth's. "It's on a Friday. September 5th." Abraham and Hannah began looking at each other, communicating silently.

" _Please_ ," one of the children began begging to both of their parents.

"I want to go!"

"We've never been to a wedding before!"

"We attended Zalman Sofer's wedding in Charlottetown last summer!" Abraham exclaimed.

"But we've never been to a _goyische_ wedding!"

" _Please? Pretty please?_ "

"We have to go! It's a _simkhe_!"

"We have to go, _Tateh_! He's our brother!"

Abraham's shoulders drooped as he spoke to Gilbert and Anne. "I'm so sorry. We won't be able to come."

"But _why_ , _Tateh_?!"

"It's on a Friday. It's before shabbes, right?" Jacob asked. Gilbert nodded. "See," he said as he gestured with his hand, "we can go."

"We can't. It still won't work out," Hannah explained.

"Yes it will!" Benny said.

"But _why_?" Jacob asked looking like he was about to pound the table in frustration.

"It's on a Friday and by the time both the wedding and the party afterwards is done, it'll probably be sunset which means we'll have to stay over. The next day is _shabes_ , and the day after that is Sunday so the roads will be closed," Hannah explained. "Therefore, we won't be able to drive back home until Monday. Besides, for one, it would be rude to stay with Gilbert or Anne's family for three days when they're hosting the wedding and two, I don't think they keep kosher."

"We can bring our own supplies then," Sarah said. "Rachel and I will do it." Rachel nodded heartily in agreement.

"Do _you_ want to pack up the buggy with pots, pans, dishes, and utensils for three days use?" Hannah asked her youngest daughter. Sarah opened her mouth for a moment before it closed and her shoulders sagged. Gilbert could see that the realistic situation of potentially packing up the entire kitchen was not something she relished. "That's what I thought," Hannah said with a knowing smile.

With dinner and dessert eaten (Gilbert savored the apple cake. With the wedding and the upcoming move to Glen St. Mary in just under a month, who knew when he would be able to eat apple cake again?), Anne and Gilbert's offer to help clear the table was waved away by Hannah as she and the girls did it. With that done, Abraham pulled a bunch of small booklets from the bookshelf and passed them around as he sat down. "Anne?"

"Anne doesn't know Hebrew, Abraham," Gilbert responded. "Do you want one?" he asked turning to Anne. "Or do you want to share with me?"

"I'll just share with you."

However, since the family left their booklets alone for the moment, Gilbert did the same. Abraham started off with an upbeat song with the others joining in and Gilbert and Anne sat there quietly beating their hands on the table in time with the melody. As they continued on, different members of the Roth family would chime in and start singing another upbeat song and the rest of the family would join in. After a time, while Gilbert did enjoy listening to them, it was definitely taking much longer than it had been when he had been living with them. Then again, he mused, when he just started living in White Sands, the children were between the ages of one and seven so it couldn't go on for very long, even if they managed to stay up that late – especially in the very late springtime when it was almost summer. Now, the children were between the ages of eight and sixteen so of course, they could stay up later. He let out a small yawn. It was getting late and they still had an hour's drive back to Avonlea. He almost hid a smile of brotherly amusement; Benny was already falling asleep at the table and Sammy was on the way there himself.

Finally, with the singing done and as Hannah was trying to bundle the youngest two off to bed, Abraham turned to him and said, "Page twelve, Gil."

Gilbert gave a quick nod and scooted his chair over a few inches and brought the booklet slightly closer to Anne so they could both see it. _Good. They were finally getting to the grace after meals; they should probably get going after this._ He just hoped that he could remember the words after seven years of not saying them.

Anne saw Gil flip to the back of the book – which strangely had lettering on that side? Why would there be lettering on that side? – and then flip through the pages until he got to the page that he wanted covered with strange letters.

Abraham started singing again but this time Gilbert knew it was for the start of the _Birkas Hamazon_ ; while he had heard it several times before, between not hearing the Sabbath version enough times at the Roth house and having months-long gaps during his White Sands days where he didn't have Friday night dinner with them, he never actually learned it. Nor did he learn the Sabbath sections of it because of that.

"Page fourteen now, Gil," Abraham told him. _Ah. Here it was._ Gilbert hid a smile. Anne was going to get one of the biggest surprises of her life. " _Rabosai n'vareich,_ " Abraham called out.

" _Y'hi sheim Adonai m'vorach mei-atah v'ad olam_ " the rest of the table said.

As Abraham repeated the second sentence and then continued on with another one, Anne saw Gilbert moving his finger – From _right to left_? – as Abraham spoke the words.

" _Baruch she-achalnu mishelo uvtuvo chayinu_ " the rest of the table responded. Was Gilbert singing? Anne shook her head. She was getting tired. She must be dreaming. She stared at Gilbert's finger again moving from right to left swiftly across the page. " _Baruch hu u-varuch sh'mo_ " she heard everyone at the table say. She stared at Gilbert. Surely he couldn't be singing.

Gilbert continued onto the next blessing with the rest of the family, quickly tapping the table three times after the third word, a half-grin covering his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Anne still trying to puzzle the situation out. What's more, he felt relieved. Even though seven years had passed since he had last said it, and naturally he had stumbled a bit this evening in the beginning, the words had become familiar again and his mouth were able to form the Hebrew words he had spent so many evenings saying during his time in White Sands. Naturally of course, he would have to be quiet when the _shabbes_ blessings happened but he knew from experience that he would still be able to sing most of it.

" _Baruch atah Adonai …_ " She saw Gilbert's mouth form these words before tapping the table three times in quick succession. Was he … He was … Was he chanting in _Hebrew_?!

As she saw him continue on, blatantly ignoring her staring, a thought popped into head as her jaw dropped open:

 _He was singing in Hebrew._

A little bit later, as the family continued on – this time with a _shabbes_ blessing – Gilbert grew quiet for a few moments, knowing that they were going to get back to what he knew soon. He leaned over to Anne's ear, a huge grin on his face. "Surprise," he whispered. "A good one, huh?"

"You never told me."

"Now you know."

Later, after the Grace After Meals and farewells were said, Hannah said, "Come back next week. Your parents are invited. You too, Anne."

"Thank you," Gilbert said as he spoke for both of them. "I'll let them know." After getting the horse and buggy out of the small barn, they drove back home to Avonlea, the starlight guiding their way.

* * *

Glossary (in order of appearance):

 _Kashrut_ (Hebrew): The term that encompasses the Jewish dietary laws.

 _Zey zaynen do!_ (Yiddish): They are here!

 _Mezuzah_ : A small rectangle (could be plain or elaborate) usually with the Hebrew letter _shin_ on it, nailed to the right doorpost, one-third of the way down from the top. Traditionally, there's one placed on the doorpost of both the front door and in the doorway of every room in a Jewish home (the lone exception being the bathroom, I think). Sometimes the one exception to a _mezuzah_ being placed one-third of the way down and instead being placed halfway down the doorway is because it's for a child's bedroom and that child is small enough that they can't _possibly_ reach it at it's traditionally position (two-thirds of the way up) but at the halfway position, it's still high for them but at a point they could possibly reach. Inside the _mezuzah_ is a small rectangle sized piece of parchment wound up with the Shema (the most important prayer in Judaism), the Ve'havta (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9), and the paragraph after that (Deuteronomy 11: 13-21) written on it in Hebrew by a Jewish scribe.

 _Shabbes_ (Yiddish): Sabbath

 _Gut shabbes!_ (Yiddish): Good Sabbath! (One of the two Shabbat greetings I know. (The other is _Shabbat shalom_ (which is in Hebrew).))

 _Gut shabes, gut yor!_ (Yiddish): Good Sabbath, good year! (This was the response that was drummed into me to say when I was learning Yiddish a number of years ago if somebody ever said _gut shabbes_ to me.)

 _Simkhe_ (Yiddish): Celebration

 _Sha_ (Yiddish): Quiet

 _Nayn_ (Yiddish): No

 _Sha shtil!_ (Yiddish): Be quiet!

 _Mir bagrisin khoych un klor…_ (Yiddish): "We greet/welcome loud and clear…." This is the first line of the Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) song, "A Gut Yor" ("A Good Year"), that I learned in Yiddish class a number of years ago.

 _Mameh_ (Yiddish): Mother

 _Rosh Hashoneh_ (Yiddish/Ashkenazi Hebrew pronounciation): Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year

 _Meshuge_ (Yiddish): Crazy

 _Cholent_ (Yiddish, I think?): A bean and beef stew, usually eaten for Saturday lunch. Traditionally prepared on Friday afternoon and left to simmer overnight because traditionally you're not allowed to cook nor light a fire on the Sabbath.

 _Challah_ (Hebrew, I think?): Braided egg bread eaten on the start of Shabbat (Friday night). (The exception is when Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbat; then the challah is a circle.)

 _Kinderlach_ (Yiddish): A diminutive, endearing form that means children. (Usually used by parents or possibly teachers (probably to elementary school kids).)

 _Talmud_ : A series of bound books that contain both the commentary (the _Mishnah_ ) and the commentary on the commentary (the _Gemara_ ) of the Torah.

 _Tateh_ (Yiddish): Father

 _Goyische_ (Yiddish): Not-Jewish. It comes from the Hebrew word _goy_ , which means nation.

 _Birkas Hamazon_ (Ashkenazi Hebrew): AKA _Birkat Hamazon_ (Sephardic Hebrew). This is the Grace After Meals, a series of blessings that you say after a meal if you eat something as small as an olive-sized piece of bread. In my experience, the everyday one takes about five minutes to sing (though the more comfortable you are with it, of course, the faster you can get through it). If it's the Sabbath and/or the holidays you tack on even more blessings; in my experience, the Shabbat version takes about seven minutes to sing.

 _Rabosai n'vareich …_ (Ashkenazi Hebrew): This is the start of the call-and-response part of the _Birkat Hamazon_ , where traditionally, either at least three men or three women have eaten together. (In even more traditional circles, it's where three men have eaten together. In more liberal circles, it's where three adults have eaten together.) However, I had to take out a word here in the third sentence of it because there's not a group of ten men (traditional circles) or ten adults (liberal circles) in this gathering.

* * *

A few things:

1\. For those who are wondering, the (sort-of) pun in this chapter is that the second part that Benny sang of _"A Gut Yor"_ ( _"koykh un klor"_ ( _"loud and clear"_ )) was loud. And yes, Rachel is right; at this point in time, Rosh Hashanah is roughly five weeks away.

2\. For those of you who are wondering about Rabbi Akiva's death, it's gruesome. (Abraham's right; it's not dinner table talk.) While I can't describe it here if I want to keep my rating to what it is right now, if want to know, please PM me.

3\. My headcanon is that Anne and Gil got married on Friday, September 5, 1890 because towards the end of Anne of Ingleside, we know that that year (1905), their anniversary is on a Tuesday. This is also my reasoning that if Gil did board with the Roth's during his White Sands days, why the Roth's aren't listed as invitees to the wedding.


End file.
